NEW HAVEN >> Federal prosecutors on Tuesday defended their motives for pursuing the conspiracy case against former Gov. John Rowland and former Republican congressional candidate Lisa Wilson-Foley.

Wilson-Foley’s attorneys have argued that hiding $35,000 in payments for Rowland’s work on her 2012 campaign was a “record-keeping” violation that could have been handled in a civil enforcement by the Federal Election Commission. They are seeking probation when she is sentenced on a conspiracy charge next week in U.S. District Court.

Wilson Foley and her husband, Brian Foley, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy. Rowland was convicted in September of seven counts, including conspiracy, falsifying records in a federal investigation, causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission and causing illegal campaign contributions.

In a pre-sentencing memo last week, Wilson-Foley’s attorneys suggested the criminal prosecution was driven by sensationalism due to the involvement of Rowland, and the government’s dissatisfaction with the 10 months the former Republican governor served in prison for his 2004 corruption case.

Prosecutors, who are seeking a 10-month prison sentence for Wilson-Foley, responded in a filing Tuesday morning. They deny they were on a “blind pursuit” of Rowland, and argue that if elected Wilson-Foley would have taken office “as a criminal who had won election by criminal means.”

Wilson-Foley and Rowland “strove to deprive citizens of their right to make an informed choice about who would serve as their voice in the United States Congress,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Mattei wrote. “Sadly, by portraying her conduct as a trivial, record-keeping violation, Ms. Wilson-Foley continues to manifest the same disrespect for the voting public that led to this offense in the first place.”

Wilson-Foley’s attorneys also noted in their memorandum that Brian Foley had told his wife that a law firm specializing in election law had signed off on the arrangement.

That prompted Rowland’s lawyer to request and receive a delay to his sentencing, which had been scheduled for Wednesday.

Attorney Reid Weingarten wrote that had he been aware of Foley’s statements to his wife he would have brought them up during Rowland’s trial and likely would have called Wilson-Foley as a witness.

Briefs on that issue are due later this month. Prosecutors did not address it in Tuesday’s filing.

Brian Foley faces sentencing on Friday. Prosecutors have not submitted a detailed sentencing memo in his case but did file a motion last week noting that he cooperated and testified against Rowland. They are asking for a sentence below the federal guidelines of no more than a year in prison. His lawyers are seeking probation.